DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – Thursday saw the calendar turn to July 1, but the day brought more than just a new month. It brought a new chapter at The College of St. Scholastica as the school officially became the 13^th full-time member of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC).
 
The Saints will have 20 of its 22 intercollegiate teams competing in the MIAC beginning this fall. The men's and women's nordic ski programs will remain a part of the Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA).
 
CSS joins other Minnesota private undergraduate colleges Augsburg University, Bethel University, Carleton College, Concordia College-Moorhead, Gustavus Adolphus College, Hamline University, Macalester College, College of Saint Benedict (women only), St. Catherine University (women only), Saint John's University (men only), Saint Mary's University and St. Olaf College. 
 
Today marks the end of St. Scholastica's time in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) where the Saints won 17 Jerome Kruse All-Sports Trophies, 216 regular season championships and 108 postseason titles. All 18 sports that competed in the conference won at least one championship.
 
Today also marks the end of the men's and women's hockey programs time in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA). It is the first time in school history the hockey programs have been part of the same multi-sport conference as the rest of the CSS teams.
 
The first St. Scholastica MIAC game is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, September 14 when women's soccer hosts Gustavus Adolphus at Saints Field.
 
Notable 2021-22 MIAC Changes
 
Overall (general code and appendixes)
Eligibility: The MIAC will match NCAA Eligibility Bylaws through 2024-25 and accept all NCAA Blanket Waivers associated with COVID-19 relief. This provision applies only to students receiving degrees at their same undergraduate institution (no postgrad transfer eligibility). For post-graduate eligibility, a student needs to maintain institutional satisfactory progress, which would take the place of MIAC Normal Progress. The MIAC will continue with more restrictive rules in the areas of Normal Progress (5.3.2), Repeat Courses (5.3.2.1.1), PSEO (5.3.1.1), and Hardship (5.6) bylaws found in the MIAC General Code.

Basketball
Doubleheader Order: Adjusted doubleheader rotation due to no doubleheaders in 2020-21. Women will now play first in odd-even years (2021-22) and men will play first in even-odd years (2022-23).

Football
With St. Scholastica and Macalester in the fold, the MIAC will transition to a two-division model for football. The division names stem from two of the MIAC's primary colors, Northwoods Green and Skyline Silver. The Northwoods Division will consist of Carleton, Gustavus Adolphus, Saint John's, St. Olaf, and CSS. The Skyline Division will consist of Augsburg, Bethel, Concordia-Moorhead, Hamline, and Macalester. The final week of the football regular season will function as "Championship Week," wherein teams will be ranked 1-5 in each division based on the current season's in-division games only. Each team will then match up with the corresponding seed in the other division for a "playoff" game. The winner of the No. 1 vs. No. 1 game will receive the MIAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Playoffs.

Women's Hockey
Overtime Procedure/Points System: Teams will now advance to a shootout if a game is tied after overtime; the point system has been revised to reflect shootout results.

Tennis
Playoff Line-Up Procedures: A team lineup used in the first playoff match will be the lineup used throughout playoffs.

Volleyball
Schedule: Conference matches will now be scheduled for Fridays and Saturdays on four consecutive weekends prior to playoffs with one Wednesday the week prior to weekend matches. Match start time is set at 7 p.m. The host institution may determine either 3 p.m. or 7 p.m. start for Saturday matches.

Championships
The 2021-22 season will be highlighted by several return trips to familiar championship sites. MIAC men's and women's golfers will head back to Bunker Hills Golf Club for the first time since 2016 for the conference tournament in October 2021. The MIAC Baseball Playoffs are slated to return to CHS Field in May 2022. The inaugural "Championship Week" in football will be hosted by teams in the Skyline Division, while Softball will transition to a six-team, single-elimination tournament in May 2022 wherein high seeds will host quarterfinal contests with the semifinal and championship games being played on the home field of the highest seed able to host.